Obama now virtually tied with Clinton, poll shows  —  WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are essentially tied for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the first time that the New York senator hasn't clearly led the field.

Democrats Fear a Wider Black Caucus-Pelosi Rift  —  Democratic leaders fear that Rep. William J. Jefferson's indictment yesterday on racketeering and bribery charges, coming exactly one year after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi engineered his ouster from the powerful Ways and Means Committee …

Libby Faces Sentencing in CIA Leak Case  —  U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton this morning began the sentencing phase in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, who has been convicted of lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

Libby Sentencing Five  —  Need to consider seriousness of offense.  Investigation extremely serious.  Conduct of Mr Libby is serious behavior.  Has to be a sentence that promotes respect for law.  Indivs should understand there are consequences.  Obviously, punishment has to be considered.

Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming Dies at 74  —  Senator Craig Thomas, a three-term Republican from Wyoming, died Monday evening, just hours after his staff reported that the treatment he was receiving for leukemia was no longer working.  He was 74.  —  Under Wyoming's election laws …

Cheated of Future, Iraqi Graduates Want to Flee  —  They started college just before or after the American invasion with dreams of new friends and parties, brilliant teachers and advanced degrees that would lead to stellar jobs, marriage and children.  Success seemed well within their grasp.

Scooter Libby Love Letters  —  Washington elite petition judge on behalf of convicted Cheney aide  —  Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Bolton top the list of individuals who wrote a federal judge on behalf of former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby …

Realists on Iraq  —  Democratic presidential candidates should listen to the "experts" they so often cite.  —  During Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate, the candidates cited an oft-repeated source of the mess in Iraq: The White House's refusal to heed knowledgeable advice.

A Cuban death rehearsal  —  135 » Witness » A Cuban death rehearsal  —  With Fidel Castro apparently on the verge of death, I returned to Cuba to visit old friends.  Little has changed over recent years and life for most Cubans remains harsh.  Yet western visitors continue to romanticise the place

McCain urges rivals to avoid divisive issue  —  Sen. John McCain yesterday pleaded with his fellow candidates for the Republican presidential nomination not to take political advantage of the immigration fight within the party.  —  "I would hope they wouldn't play politics for their own interests …

Massacres in the biofuel revolution  —  Armed groups in Colombia are driving peasants off their land to make way for plantations of palm oil, a biofuel that is being promoted as an environmentally friendly source of energy.  —  Surging demand for "green" fuel has prompted rightwing paramilitaries …

A war that never ends  —  Forty years ago tomorrow, Israel wielded its terrible swift sword against the attack-poised armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan - and saved the Jewish state from destruction.  —  It was the Six-Day War, and the fledgling state's stunning victory over enemies determined …